In a crowded marketplace, where your potential clients have lots of choices, they don’t need to use or stay with you! This means that you MUST stand out as the very best option available in your area. Technology is constantly moving and improving; to thrive, you must implement all available marketing automation software available.

Also, you must target your market and develop a reputation as “the best” resource available – trustworthy, knowledgeable, and close at hand.

Without exception, every business professional we have ever worked with has had the desire to be as successful as possible! Well, isn’t that the entire point of starting your own firm? Think about it; when you started your business, was it your desire to be mediocre or “just-get-bye?” Of course not; but, to stand out and succeed you need to embrace proven strategies to reach your goals.

This article is written precisely with this concept in mind. However, there is one small but vital caveat; we’ve been discussing how you can implement your business-to-business relationships (B2B) to increase your client connections and credibility.

Whether you’ve been in the B2B market since your inception or this is a new venture for you, there’s always room for improvement. If this market is new to you, you may be thinking, “OMG, I’ve never worked with other businesses before; how do I do that, how would I even get started?” Don’t worry; this article will help you with that step.

To begin with, B2B marketing techniques rely on the same basic principles as consumer marketing. However, they are executed in unique ways. Allow me to illustrate, consumers (as in business-to-consumer marketing) choose products based not only on price but on popularity, status, and various other emotional triggers. By contrast, B2B buyers make decisions on price and profit potential alone.

Again, whether you have been working in the B2B business for years or this is new to you, think bigger. Allow yourself to embrace the magnitude of the possibilities. You may be thinking, “How does this apply to me; I only work with one private/corporate client at a time.” The point is, by opening yourself up to other businesses, you open yourself up to business opportunities on a larger-scale. You will still be working with clients one-on-one; you will just have access to significantly more clients.

Consider this example, according to marketingschools.org, the B2B market is the largest of all the markets and exceeds consumer markets in dollar value. Companies like GE and IBM spend an estimated $60 million a day on goods that support the operation of their business.

How do you standout in your industry? Do your patients know you’re the best option around? Learn these key Gap marketing skills so you can dominate your market.

This piece is designed to show you how to expand your marketing reach by establishing yourself, and your practice, as a regional expert in the medical field. Our aim is to teach you how to separate yourself from your competitors by communicating those vast differences between you and them. The strategy is known as Gap Marketing.

The mission is to create a platform after which you will be the only logical choice for a patient’s healthcare needs.

I contend that no one goes into business to be mediocre or to barely get by; it just isn’t part of the entrepreneurial spirit. Therefore, if you took the time to secure a business loan, promote your medical practice, lease a location and set up shop, you that is a sign that you are probably extremely motivated to excel.

What you will learn in this piece is how to compete to win.

Have you ever read an ad where the advertiser declares that “they are the best,” “they’re available eight days a week, 25 hours-a-day,” or some variation of this same theme?

Do you know why advertisers state these things? It’s because they don’t know how else to communicate their “superior” skills.

That brings us to the next question; what do you to attract patients? How do you let others know you’re the best option?

As you develop your display advertising platform, you must develop a noticeable distinction between your practice and your competitor’s practice. You must begin implementing the principles of “GAP Marketing.”

In point of fact, gap marketing is an extremely powerful marketing strategy that has been around for millennia. Moreover, companies like Apple Computer, Harley Davidson, and Disney Corporation are masters of the tactic. As a marketing tactic, is a crucial component in an approach of solidifying your brand as the absolute best in the market.

Further, the creation of vast chasms between you and your competition is such an important tactic, that it should be a critical cornerstone of your core marketing model. Plus, this promotional model will also allow you to pinpoint why your medical services are not selling. Also, why your marketing copy doesn’t work the way you expect, or why your headlines are sometimes powerless.

Again, the strategy refers to creating the widest difference possible between an expectation level and an experience level of a person [your patients].

Additionally, as a concept, it offers the most profound insight and explanation for human behavior and reactions imaginable. The reason the divergence model works is that “people make decisions by comparison.” Prospects are coming from a position of “what you say” and transforming to “where they are.”

If the difference between the two is significant enough for them to feel their current condition is unacceptable, or in the case of an unproven company (a new, never-before-seen on any advertising platform) the proposed offer is unacceptable, then they will react positively, and you will generate a business relationship.

Therefore, you will not get a lead, an appointment, a trial offer, or a sale if the prospect’s differential is too small.

Primarily, you will be practically applying Newton’s third law of motion to your marketing campaign. The law states that: “Every action produces an equal and opposite reaction.” For advertising and sales purposes, let us change that to: “Every emotional divide produces an equal and opposite reaction.”

You let your patient relationships lapse; financially speaking, “No Bueno”! To save your bottom-line, you need to develop a plan to get them back — you need to reconnect!

If you’ve been in business any amount of time, you have had patients that have simply floated away. That may be bad, or it may be good; especially since every business owner has the right to filter out those patients that create stress and anxiety. However, many excellent and profitable patients just go away in the frenzy of trying to build a successful practice; which is precisely why you must make every to re-connect.

This piece is written with a single purpose in mind, to help you get back those right patients, create long-lasting professional relationships, and increase your profits.

Your current and past patients represent a vibrant and lucrative pool of annual receipts and yield the highest return on investment. Moreover, many major advertising studies indicate that this pool accounts for nearly 95% of all services sold annually.

Plus, these same marketing studies verify: it costs 5-7 times more to acquire a new patient than to retain a current one. Invespcro.com points out that the probability of providing additional services for an existing patient is 60-70%, while the likelihood of selling to a new prospect is only 5-20%. Finally, existing patients are 50% more likely to try new services and spend 31% more, when compared to new patients.

Consider a report published by the Harvard Business School by Amy Gallo. She cites research done by Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company. He demonstrates that by increasing customer retention rates by just 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%.

There’s still one critical value that we haven’t yet discussed but demonstrates a dramatic effect on your clinics’ long-term bottom-line, the lifetime value of each patient. The lifetime value is a calculation that takes into account the amount you receive every time a patient visits you for treatment, multiplied by the number of visits per year, multiplied by the number of years you expect to see them.

So, if your patient represents $100 per month (A), you would then multiply that by the number of months (for this example, let’s say 12 times – B). Now multiply that number by the anticipated number of years (C). Therefore: A x B = $1200. $1200 x C = $6000 for your clinic (per patient).

Your next thought may be “What am I going to say to my patients?” “How am I going to approach them?”

The bottom line is that you have to connect with these former patients. You need to touch the specific pressure points that lead them to recall all the positive experiences they had while you were taking care of their medical needs.

Further, your message must be laser focused and presented from the patient’s perspective (which we will cover below). Mostly, you must convey that your most significant interest is solving their greatest need.

Since patient attraction is EVERYTHING in business, you’re going to learn how to transform your clinic into a patient magnet. You will achieve this via improved, persuasive, and compelling messaging (aka content). Continue reading “Reconnect With Lost Patients”

Whomever owns a clinic must focus on solvency to keep the doors open. This piece focuses on and teaches you to increase your profits and the success of your practice.

Annually healthcare providers invest countless amounts of staff- hours and resources to acquire new patients. Meetings are conducted, budgets are projected and set, and personnel are assembled. We strategize, scrutinize and improvise ways in which to attract our next big patient — all to increase your profits.

Very often, the most significant question asked at these annual budget meetings is “Do we spend 30% of our advertising dollars on print or social media this year (as opposed to 25% from last year)?”

Too often, very little goes into the strategy of keeping those hard-won patients. Ideally, you also want to keep them over the course of several years. Many practice owners naturally assume that they [existing patients] will stay around for a number of years.

Actually, there’s a huge difference between repeat business and loyalty. Repeat business means that I’m willing to do business with you again, and again, and again. Loyalty means patients are willing to overlook others, turn down a better service, at a better price, or even inconvenience. Patients will do all that just to do business with you.

Those patients for whom you just happen to meet some arbitrary price standard or pricing objective, they’re not very loyal. Often, those people will do business with you anyway. You shouldn’t try to appease them; they come and go. If you focus your practice on “price-driven” patients, you’re creating a never ending cycle of profitable years and lean years.

But it’s those loyal ones, … These patients are the ones who increase your profitability and create long-term clinic success.

So, how do we achieve this loyalty?

There are couple of answers. First, you have to establish why you do what you do. Once you establish your core belief, it’s a matter of identifying those people who share common interests and values. Now, inspire them to follow you. Second, your deepest and richest pool of ongoing business is right in front of you — your current patients.

According to Simon Sinek, all promotions (and their subsequent sales) are achieved in one of two ways. You can either attract patients and have them choose you over the competition by manipulating price points and offers.

For example, buy one get one free, special discounts for…, giving something away for free, or some variation of a value-added concept.

Or, you can opt for the alternative; you can inspire people to follow you with no manipulation or trickery.

Incidentally, I cannot dispute that these and many other manipulations work; without question they do, that’s why the advertising industry uses them. The problem is none of them breathe loyalty or engender trust.

According to Mr. Sinek, only a few leaders and a few organizations rely more on inspiration than manipulation. Some of the big ones that use inspiration to draw followers include Apple computers, Harley-Davidson, Disney, or Southwest Airlines, but you also see the same pattern in great leaders like Nelson Mandela, or Martin Luther King, or John F Kennedy.

He points out that most businesses conduct their conversations and subsequent communication in the following manner:

A company begins with what they do in business.

They quickly proceed to describe how they do business.

Then, very often they neglect to explain why they do business.

Most of their exchanges end up sounding like this:

If you’re computer manufacturer, “We make great computers, they’re beautifully designed, simple to use and user-friendly. Wanna buy one?” Or, maybe you’re a car dealer, in which case you might be saying something like “Our new car has tinted windows, great gas mileage, leather seats. Do want to buy it?” We are healthcare providers, “We’ve got the best medical people on staff, we went to the best schools, we do great by our patients, we work with some of the largest insurance companies, hire us.”

As you can see, these are merely variations of “what we do” and “how we do it.” These things are great, but they neither inspire nor do they promote you as the leader and authority in your industry.

The question is why anyone should follow you? What is your purpose in business, what’s your cause, what’s your belief, why does your company exist? Do we really need another doctor in town?

Here’s an example that might provide clarity. Apple Computers’ communication is crystal clear, and it’s direct and to point. More importantly, they begin by explaining “why” they are in business.

“Everything we do, we believe. We believe in challenging the status quo, the way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use, and user friendly. We just happened to make great computers. Want to buy one?”

For this thing to work, you have to have three things: 1.You must have clarity of “why.” If you don’t know why your practice exists, how will anybody else? 2. You have to have discipline of “how.” You have to hold yourself and your people accountable to your own guiding principles and your own values. 3. You need to have consistency of “what.” Everything you say and everything you do has to prove what you believe at the end of the day.

We live in the tangible world at the end of the day. The only way people will know what you believe is if you say and do the things you actually believe. This is the concept behind authenticity.

If we approach business with the standard models of leading with “what we do” and “how we do it,” we have it all backward. A well-defined “why” speaks to our inner self; it forms bonds and alliances. Actually, this is all grounded in the tenets of biology. It has to do with our human brains and our neocortex; within our brains lays the limbic system which is responsible for all of our feelings of trust and loyalty. It’s also responsible for all human behavior, all decision-making. Continue reading “Increase Your Profits By Thousands!”

It’s been said that it takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. But, what if that bad deed isn’t true? How do you take back your good name?

Let’s face it, a bad review is generally well earned. If you have built your business on unscrupulous, undependable, or slap-shot quality, you deserve that others find out.

But what if you didn’t do anything wrong? What if you’re the victim of a malicious attack?

How do you get back your reputation and your standing in the community?

It appears that the expression “fake news” has become part of the modern lexicon. Indeed, lately, it has swirled around the topic of politics. However, regardless of your political stance, we all turn towards authoritative sources to get our daily information (aka the news media).

With the expansion of social media, these news platforms have broadened immensely; many would argue, this expansion has watered down the quality of the news reported. Think about it, this medium that we all use determines many aspects of our lives.

The news delivers everything from how to dress in the mornings based on the weather report, how to invest our money based on financial news, even where to eat based on restaurant reviews.

When the very sources that we depend upon to provide us with this valuable information are compromised by bad blood, envy, or downright mean-spiritedness, we all suffer! By no means is anyone suggesting that all news needs to feature reports on rainbows and unicorns, we can handle bad news — just let it be honest, impartial and without an agenda.

The fact is that false narratives (otherwise known as yellow journalism) are nothing new. Many documented journalistic sources trace this type of news delivery to William Randolph Hearstin the modern era (though it’s been around since men could speak).

However, with the propagation of social media, fraudulent claims (in a printed format) are rampant. These events are concerning when companies hire people to falsely accuse competitors in the business of bad service, negligence, deception, and worse on various social platforms.

In a piece written by Chris Silverfor Marketing Land, he explains that increases in extortion-fueled reputation attacks points to needs for changes in the law. Mr. Silver believes that lawmakers must modify legislation to help innocent victims fight back.

Mr. Silver also states that “you do not have to work very long in Online Reputation Management (ORM) before you run into cases involving people who have been victimized by unscrupulous individuals. These bad actors convince these people to give in to their demands to avoid being ruined online. Cases range from human trafficking victims extorted into prostitution to businesses ordered to pay ransoms to avoid financial ruin.

This issue is one of the darkest aspects of the internet, and ironically, it has been facilitated by a portion of the so-called Communications Decency Act (CDA Section 230). It’s time to modify the law to reduce these threats of extortion based on reputation attacks. Continue reading “Save your reputation from fake reviews!”

It’s a crowded marketplace, you have to do everything you can to stand out from the crowd; this means, eliminating your competition and leaving as far back as possible in your rearview mirror!

Easier said than done; right? You read mountains of articles which promise helpful tips but they don’t really deliver enough meat on the bone. Success can feel like a treasure map that’s missing a few key steps — you have the map but you’re far from the prize.

That’s what makes this article different. As you read on you will learn essential, step-by-step, elements for eliminating your competition.

Please don’t misunderstand my statements at the onset. Business success and marketing articles covering topics like branding, attracting more and better patients, writing better ads, etc. are necessary. In fact, I would argue they are imperative — but only if implemented.

By the same token, I believe that eliminating your competitionis an underserved market. Interestingly, there appears to be an unspoken disapproval, an attitude of “ungentlemanly-play” when breaching the subject.

I say too bad! Unless these critical people are paying your monthly bills, I say forget them and carry-on my ambitious scholar!

The name of this game is success through separation. My mission is to help you create a massive crevasse between you and your biggest competitor. In short, we want patients to believe that it would be a colossal mistake to use anyone but you.

However, if your desire is not to reign supreme, then this piece is not for you. I respect your position; and, I’m not here to twist your arm. I would suggest, though, that you read our many other detailed articles covering business enhancement. I promise these pieces are worth your review.

So, without further ado, let’s get started.

Maybe you’ve never thought about this; every day when you open your doors for business, your competitors are actively and aggressively targeting your patient-base. How do they do this you ask?

Every time your competitor launches a promotional campaign, wheels are set in motion. An action has begun can’t be stopped until it reaches its end — to get a new patient.

Fortunately for you, too many ads don’t feature the essential components to make them successful or profitable. However, it’s just a matter of time before your competitor lands on a good one. Remember, they are targeting your patients, and there’s nothing you can do to stop them!

Therefore, you have to do everything in your power to stand apart from your competitors. I am speaking about authority marketingand branding.

As a result of your authority marketing, you will distinguish yourself as the undisputed expert in your field. More importantly, you will brand yourself as the preeminent consul on a particular treatment.

From this point forward, you must look at your practice with a new set of eyes. If you are astute, you have approached your patients qualitatively. Now, you need to also look at them quantitatively.

What do I mean by that?

From now on, you will need to categorize your patients by treatments they receive. For example, after you do an audit of your patients, you discover that most see you to treat their fibromyalgia.

Now that you are armed with this magnificent pearl of information, it’s time to put knowledge into action!

From this point on, your website, your blogs, and every promotional will be from “Dr. Jones, the fibromyalgia specialist.” If eliminating your competition is truly

There’s only one way to increase your profits; you need to identify and capitalize on those windows of opportunities that each client provides you.

A successful practice is the goal; why else would you work so hard? Having happy patients is also a strong motivation. Are you making your road to victory tougher than it needs to be? Learn to identify your current patients’ buying signals and increase your profits.

The bigger question is, are you missing out on fortunate circumstances that often lift your practice to the next level? You know, those subtle signs that have kept you from increasing your profits, additional procedures and referrals?

If you have answered yes to these questions, your solution may very well be found within this article. Learn efficient and proven principles for tapping into your patient’s wants and needs — when they’re ready and desiring them!

As a medical professional, you know that there are three ways to grow your business. First, acquire more patients. Second, you do more business with the patients you already have. Third, do more work more frequently with the ones you have.

In the daily rush of building and maintaining a successful medical practice, we often miss faint signs. These signs transform practices from a “one-and-done” clinic to practices that build their strength on patient loyalty.

Your goal needs to be one of creating an on-going resource as your patients’ lives unfold. However, before you can be that resource, you need to know your patients. Don’t miss those indirect, yet vital clues that each patient provides. It’s those clues that determine where they are in their specific life cycles and transforms a medical practice.

Traditionally, the accepted formula for building a lucrative practice consists of putting your nose to the grindstone from morning ’til night, and repeating the following day.

Well, that’s one method, but there is a better way.

Did you know that simply by increasing patient retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95% (this is according to Frederick Reichheld in a study for the Harvard School of Business)?

Also, multiple direct response advertising studies have shown the following: Up to 95% of all ads written only target 5% of the intended audience. Conversely, the probability of selling to an existing patient is 60-70%, while the probability of selling to a new prospect is 5-20%.

However, a superior plan for reaching success comes with learning how to identify where each current and future patient lies within their own unique life and buying cycles.

7 Proven Techniques for Successful Patient Attraction

Maybe it’s an overused expression, but patient attraction (besides providing superior medical service) is the cornerstone for building a successful practice. Let’s face it, if you can’t make your phone ring, your practice is in trouble.

Additionally, a large part of maintaining a successful clinic involves keeping the wolves away. What does that mean? Every day when you open for business, your competitors are actively and aggressively hunting for your patients.

How are your competitors going after my patients, you ask? They do it through their advertising and marketing campaigns. In fact, your competitors may not even realize the chain of events started with a single ad.

Every promotional piece that goes out has been programmed with a selected target. This is a horrible analogy (but accurate), it’s like a heat-seeking missile. It only has one job, that is to grab the attention of and to compel the reader to pick up the phone and call its maker.

Thus, if you live in an average city (where people will only drive so far to do business with you), whom do you think your competitor is targeting with their ad?

According to David Ogilvy (father of modern advertising), “The only purpose of advertising is to get a new client.“

Again, every time your competitor releases a TV or radio spot, a flyer, or some coupons, they’re targeting your patients. What are you doing to keep them away? What are you doing that your competitors aren’t?Are you upgrading the quality and quantity of your business?

Every business keeps its doors open because they attract a constant stream of new patients! Medical practices are no different; unless you become a patient magnet, you will eventually have to close your doors.

Recently, author Rhonda Abrams wrote an exceptional piece for USA Todaytitled “Strategies: 10 rules for small business success.” Ms. Abrams is a long time business development consultant and strategist provides great insight with robust data that should pay serious dividends for all medical practice owners.

She states that she has dealt with all different types of small businesses, and she’s learned certain realities always apply. These rules are keys to small business success. Ignore these rules at your peril: “I’ve seen many new entrepreneurs fail because they ignored one or more of these business basics to be a patient magnet.”

Patient attraction is EVERYTHING in business! As such, you’re going to learn how to transform your clinic into a patient magnet via improved content marketing strategies!

The goal, however, isn’t to be good at content—it’s to be good at business because of your content.

Before proceeding much further, let’s define what content means from a marketing prospective. According to the Content Marketing Institute: “Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent messaging to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action.”

Like every piece of targeted communication, the only job that content marketing has is to create behaviors among target audiences that benefit the business.

Interestingly, if you research content marketing on line, much of what is written is a very superficial and nebulous. This means that many who write about content marketing don’t fully understand it themselves. Hence, the lack of detail and nuance.

So, it’s no mystery that there is great confusion about the subject. Often you find ethereal definitions describing “content marketing” as a means of communicating that elicits emotions in your reader. For example, content marketing makes you laugh, makes you cry, makes you angry, etc.

Though it is true that good communication relates with it’s readers on multiple levels. The purpose is to provide a deeper message that doesn’t necessarily focus on the product or service you provide but solves needs.

The ultimate goal is to attract more patients to your practice. You want to be seen as the “go-to” resource for medical answers within your discipline. To become a patient magnet you need to understand your patients. You need to identify who, within your clinic, is your ideal target market, where do they hang out, what do they read, and so on. You need to know things, like:

What details can you tell about your chosen target market?

Who are the top influencers in the markets your patients seek; for example, bloggers, websites, podcasts or social media giants?

Are you receiving email newsletters from the influencers in these markets?

What are the latest marketing trends regarding their [your patient’s]needs?

If you don’t know what to say or who you’re targeting, you’re shooting blind and your ads are in trouble. This article teaches you proven tips for producing better ads!

There isn’t much debate when it comes to business success; if you can’t communicate effectively your practice will suffer! All of your promotional efforts provide you with exceptional opportunities to connect and impart your knowledge with your patients. As you read on, you will learn proven strategies for producing better and more profitable ads!

Let’s face it, everyday medical practices close their doors and doctors must then practice their skills for a medical group that isn’t theirs, that has a different vision and a contrasting flow. There are many reasons why this occurs, but clearly two of the biggest and most often sited are the lack of sufficient patients, and the practice’s inability to compete against rival doctors’ daily marketing to their existing patients!

Universally, every business school around the world will teach you that there are three primary components to business success. They are: increased traffic, convert prospects into patients, and retain those patients as long-term continual business opportunities.

A key element to these three components is that everything you say to them [patients] must draw them towards you.

If the content of your message is off your entire promotional strategy is in jeopardy. Further, you can’t possibly write compelling content if you don’t know what your patients want.

If your practice can’t communicate effectively, your patients’ willingness to stay with you is tested. Every day, with every ad, your competitors are attempting to woo your patients away from you. The only purpose of advertising is to attract more business. Where do you think that business comes from?

The best and most profitable business comes from people who already believe in your service!

Recently, author Dave Delaney, wrote a great article for The Tennessean (part of the USA Today network), that speaks directly to the specific needs of medical practices!

Mr. Delany writes that “…using a blog can drive a considerable amount of traffic to your site, which can result in more revenue and a stronger bond with your patients and your business contacts (your venders) and their staff.”

Mr. Delaney’s statement goes right to the heart of understanding your patient’s wants and needs. An effective method for figuring out what each patient wants is to sort them by ailment. If you find that the majority of your patients see you for TMJ, plantar fasciitis, or breathing problems, etc. that is what you will write about in your blog. Continue reading “Tired of Your Ineffective & Expensive Promotional Efforts?”